Chairman of National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to speak at Loyola

George Flanigen IV, award-winning music video director/producer and chairman of the board for the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, will launch the 2012-13 “Get Inforumed” music industry speaker series on Monday, Oct. 1 at 5 p.m. in Nunemaker Auditorium in Monroe Hall. The forum, which is part of the Department of Music Industry Studies at Loyola University New Orleans, is free and open to the public and will be streamed live online at http://www.cfmae.org/category/forums/.

Flanigen will discuss his education, specifically the things he found most valuable while at college, and the things he learned in the music industry profession itself. Additionally, he will discuss the evolution of his career and the ways he developed as both an important and unique visual artist and a vastly successful commercial director. Flanigen will also address how he came to be in NARAS, why the organization became important to him and how he arrived where he is today.

NARAS is underwriting Flanigen's appearance at Loyola. Flanigen is also donating his speaker's honorarium to pay for a scholarship for 40 Loyola students to join the Recording Academy's GRAMMY U for a year. A unique and fast-growing community of full-time college students who are pursuing a career in the recording industry, GRAMMY U helps prepare students for their careers in the music industry through networking, educational programs and performance opportunities. GRAMMY U is designed to enhance students' current academic curriculum with access to recording industry professionals to give an "out of classroom" perspective on the recording industry.

Also on the board of the GRAMMY Foundation, Flanigen is a former national trustee and Nashville chapter president for the Recording Academy. He has directed the opening sequence for Monday Night Football since 1989, and his tv/film and production company, Deaton Flanigen, has won major awards, including the Clio Award, Emmy Awards, CMA Video of the Year and CMT Video Directors of the Year, among others. Deaton Flanigen Productions was also honored four times with GRAMMY Award nominations for Best Short Form Music Video.

“Get Inforumed,” a weekly forum throughout the year featuring experienced music professionals from across the industry, is organized by Loyola students with a mind for arts and entrepreneurship. Each forum is designed to excite the community of creative minds and art entrepreneurs through conversations with the most experienced, sincere and relatable professionals in the industry.

Other speakers scheduled for the fall “Get Inforumed” series include:

October 8
Terry Ellis – Co-founder of Chrysalis RecordsDuring his long tenure in the music industry, Ellis has gained one of the most successful track records for discovering and developing new recording artists. Born in Hertfordshire, England, he began booking concerts while at university. After getting into business with Chris Wright, Ellis ventured into artist management and music publishing and founded Chrysalis Records, a company that handled the management and booking of well-known acts such as Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Clouds and Ten Years After. By 1974, Chrysalis Records was noted as leading the pack in the independent record company world. Ellis was particularly good at launching new talent such as Billy Idol and Pat Benatar, and in 1980, Ellis was elected as chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America. He went on to work with the British Phonographic Industry, International Federation of Phonographic Industries and BMG.

October 29
David Shulman – Music Performance Medical Specialist
Since 1978, David H. Shulman has provided compassionate physical therapy and is recognized for his innovative approach to treatment. As a retired professional woodwind player, his knowledge of music-making combines with an understanding of the body to help patients avoid problems with repetitive motion injuries. This powerful combination allows him to more accurately and sensitively diagnose and treat elite musicians with overuse problems. For more than 25 years, Shulman has focused his work on music students, professional musicians and music teachers.

November 5David Henry Hwang – Playwright, Author of “M. Butterfly”
Throughout his career, Hwang has explored the complexities of forging Eastern and Western cultures in a contemporary America. He is best known as the author of “M. Butterfly,” which ran for two years on Broadway, won the 1988 Tony, Drama Desk, John Gassner and Outer Critics Circle Awards. It was also a finalist for the 1989 Pulitzer Prize. The play enjoyed a one-year run on London's West End and has been produced in more than 40 countries to date. Hwang’s play “Golden Child” premiered Off-Broadway at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre, received a 1997 OBIE Award for playwriting and subsequently moved to Broadway, where it received three 1998 Tony Award nominations, including Best New Play. His play “Yellow Face,” which premiered at Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum and New York's Public Theater, won a 2008 OBIE Award and was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In 2011, Time Magazine named his play "Chinglish" one of the top 10 plays and musicals of the year.

For more information, contact Jess Brown in Loyola’s Office of Public Affairs at jlbrown@loyno.edu or 504-861-5882.